"Let Gujarat burn" a chilling message from D-Gang

New Delhi, May 18: For the members of the D-Gang the hit list for Gujarat was a long one. The National Investigation Agency which probed a case following the murders of two Hindu leaders, Pragnesh Mistry and Shirish Bengali had stated that the offence was committed with an intention of inciting communal riots.

The NIA says that the entire operation headed by Javed Chikna, a key Dawood Ibrahim man had many more leaders from Gujarat on their hit list. The names of Viral Desai, a VHP leader, Jaykar Maharaj, a priest and Prakash Modi the brother in law of the deceased Bengali.

Let Gujarat burn

The NIA had found during the probe that the intention was to incite communal tension. The plan was to start in Gujarat by carrying out the murders of prominent Hindu leaders. They felt that once the communal trouble starts in Gujarat, it would spread across the country.

For this purpose the money was routed from a hawala channel through Dubai. The NIA says that the hitmen were paid sums of Rs 5 lakhs to carry out the job. The accused persons had done a lot of research on their targets. They were expected to come up with names and target prominent Hindu leaders, the NIA has also learnt.

Investigators suspect that this plan may have been hatched in consultation with the ISI. Communal riots are always a fodder for terrorist groups. In the wake of every communal riot terror head hunters swoop in and pick up youth who have been targeted.

NIA officials feel that this could have been the reason for inciting communal clashes apart from ensuring that Gujarat burnt thus denting the economy of the state.